Internally mounted and concealed ring stabilizer



March H, 1958 A. LIOATES 2,825,050

INTERNALLY MOUNTED AND CONCEALED RING STABILIZER Filed Jun e'6, 1952 mA? WM INVENTOR. Arden L. Oafea United States Patent INTERNALLY MOUNTEDAND CONCEALED RING STABILIZER This invention relates to improvements injewelry and more particularly to a ring stabilizer.

One of the objects of the present invention is to provide a ringstabilizer easily secured to a conventional ring for preventingtwisting, turning and slipping of said ring on the ring finger.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a ring stabilizerthat is relatively inconspicuous when the ring is properly positioned onthe ring finger.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a ring stabilizereasily attached to a ring having a stone setting without modifying theconstruction of the ring in any manner.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a ring stabilizerhaving no tendency to scratch the ring band.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a ring stabilizerinexpensive to manufacture, having structural simplicity, and beingreadily assembled with a conventional ring.

Other features of this invention reside in the arrangement and design ofthe parts for carrying out their appropriate functions.

Other objects and advantages of this invention will be apparent from theaccompanying drawings and description and the essential features will beset forth in the appended claims.

In the drawings,

Fig. 1 is a side elevational view of a conventional ring having asetting thereon with said ring having the ring stabilizer securedthereto;

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of one form of ring stabilizer;

Fig. 3 is a horizontal sectional view taken along the line 33 of Fig. 1through the ring stabilizer legs and the ring band along approximatelythe horizontal diameter of the ring bore;

Fig. 4 is a horizontal sectional view taken along the line 4-4 throughthe ring setting;

Fig. 5 is a vertical sectional view through the ring finger of the handof a user, and the fingers adjacent thereto, showing the ring and ringstabilizer in side elevational view;

Fig. 6 is an enlarged view of the right half of Fig. 1 showing the rightleg of the stabilizer in several positions by the solid line anddot-dash line positions therein;

Fig. 7 is an enlarged view in vertical transverse cross section of thering settingshown in Fig. 1 with the upwardly extending arms of the ringstabilizer being bent outwardly to conform with the hole in the ringsetting; while Fig. 8 is a perspective view of the upper portion of thering stabilizer shown in Fig. 2 but with another form of upwardlyextending arms.

Those familiar with this art will recognize that this invention in aring stabilizer may be applied in many ways, but I have chosen toillustrate the same in connection with a ring having a setting for aprecious stone, wherein said ring is of the conventional type.

This ring stabilizer prevents the ring from twisting, turning andslipping while on the ring finger, but at the same time, the ringstabilizer is inconspicuous and does not form an unsightly appurtenanceto the ring since it is not readily seen from either above or below thehand when the fingers are in their normal position.

The conventional ring is shown in Fig. 1 by the reference numeral 10 andhas a bore 10a within the surrounding ring band. A setting 11 is formedon the upper end of the band for mounting a diamond or other typeprecious stone on the ring. The setting 11 has a hole 11a extendingradially from the base of the setting into the bore 10a and enlarging inthe outwardly extending direction. Other holes 11b extend inwardly fromthe side of the setting and connect with the radially extending hole11a. These holes are provided so that the stone can be properly mountedin the setting and so that any foreign substance, such as dirt, will nottend to collect under the stone to reduce its luster.

The subject of the present invention, the ring stabilizer, is showngenerally at 14. It includes means intermediate the ends of thestabilizer in Fig. 2 for nonrotatably mounting the stabilizer in thering bore 10a, as shown in Fig. 1. This means takes the form of aU-shaped member brazed to the rest of the stabilizer and having upwardlyand outwardly extending or projecting spaced arms 15, 15 insertable intothe hole 11a to prevent relative rotation between the ring stabilizer 14and the ring 10 in the plane of the ring.

Means is provided on the stabilizer for resiliently engaging the ringfinger for preventing slipping and twisting of the ring 10 thereon. Inthe present disclosure, this takes the form of generally divergingresilient legs 16, 16 joined together at their upper ends below the arms15, 15. The legs 16, 16 can either be formed of a solid piece ofmaterial bent to conform generally to the ring bore 10a, as in thepresent disclosure, or of two separate members suitably securedtogether. Each leg approximately forms a chord across the bore 10a whenin its unstressed condition, as shown in Fig. 1. The legs 16, 16,extending away from the arms 15, 15 in opposite directions, lie whollywithin the bore 10:: since they are preferably narrower in width at allportions along their length than corresponding portions of the ring bandsurrounding said bore. Each leg, lying within the bore, forms anoutwardly convex curve having a greater radius at each portion along itslength than corresponding portions of the bore 10a, as clearly shown inFig. 1. Of course, this invention contemplates that legs 16 may conformwith and/ or bear against the bore 10:: at some portions along itslength while having other portions differing in radius therefrom andadapted to press again the ring finger.

Slidable anchor means is provided at the distal ends of each legslidable in the ring bore 10a. In the present disclosure, this takes theform of members 17, 17, each being U-shaped in cross section with onelocated at the distal end of each leg 16. These members 17, 17 slidablyengage the bore 10a and the ring hand side walls so that each leg 16 isanchored at opposite ends within the bore 10a. In other words, thestructure at 17, 17 embraces the ring band on the inside.

With this construction, the ring stabilizer 14 readily prevents the ringfrom slipping, twisting or turning on the ring finger. Fig. 1 shows thering stabilizer 14 in its unstressed condition While Fig. 5 shows thering stabilizer and ring on the ring finger with the stabilizer firmlygripping the finger to prevent slipping, twisting or turning. When thering is put on the ring finger, the resilient legs 16, 16 bow outwardlyto permit the passage of the ring finger through the ring bore 10a.However, since the legs 16, 16 have a normal tendency to return to theirunstressed position, as shown in Fig. 1, they firmly press against thethin covering 18 over the bone 19 which lies close to the surface at theupper or outside portion of the ring finger. The ring stabilizer legs16, 16' do not press against the soft thicker muscle and flesh 18a atthe lower or inner part of the finger but instead press against the boneto prevent twisting, turning or slipping while urging the musicle at thelower part of the finger into firm engagement with the entire lowersurface of the ring bore 10a.

It should be noted that the anchor members 17, 17 at the distal ends ofthe legs 16, 16 are located below the horizontal diameter through thering bore lda in both Figs. 1 and 5, which is shown in Fig. 1 by thesection line 3'3. This structure has two advantages. First, arms 15', 15need not be bent over to lock them within the hole 11a of the settingsince the members 17, 1'7 and the legs 16, 16 firmly urge the arms 15,15 up into the hole 11a. However, even though the ring stabilizer 14 isfirmly secured in the ring bore 10a, the ring stabilizer can be easilyremoved by bending each leg 16 into the dotdash position A in Fig. 6 todisassociate the member 17 from the ring band. Second, the legs 16,whether in their unstressed condition shown in Fig. 1 and in the solidline position shown in Fig. 6, or in their stressed position engagingthe ring finger in Fig. and in the dot-dash line position B in Fig. 6,always keep the members 17 below the horizontal diameter of bore a.Members 17, 17, when the ring 10 and the ring stabilizer 14 are on thering finger, are located below the normal line of contact (but closelyadjacent thereto) between the ring finger and the adjacent fingersthereto 20 and 21, as shown in Fig. 5, so that the members 17, 17 arealways hidden from view from both above and below the hand when thefingers assume their normal side-by-side postion.

Fig. 8 discloses another form of construction wherein both the arms andthe legs are formed from one sheet of metal bent to conform generally tothe ring bore 10a. A pair of spaced arms 15', 15 in Fig. 8, similar toarms 15, 15 in Fig. 2, are die-cut from the metal strip forming the legsand are then bent upwardly and outwardly to form the projecting arms.

The spaced arms 15, 15 and 15, 15 in both embodiments shown in Figs. 2and 8 may be used in several difierent ways. First, they may merelyproject upwardly through the hold 11a in the ring mounting but need notremovably engage the sides of the holes since the members 17, 17 intheir unstressed condition in Fig. 1 are below the horizontal and theresilient legs 16, 16 always urge the spaced arms upwardly into the hole111:. This structure is ideally suited when the mounting 11 for theprecious stone is very small and the hole 11a is correspondingly smallsuch as in a mounting for small stones. Second, the spaced arms can alsobe resilient and have portions extending or diverging in the outwardlydirection so that they can readily snap into the hole 1111 having sidesdiverging in the outwardly direction. Third, the spaced arms can beformed of bendable material so as to be bent outwardly, as shown in Fig.7, to conform to the outwardly diverging sides on the hole 11a on thering mounting after the spaced arms have been inserted therein. A pin,as shown in Fig. 7, can be pushed through the holes 11b in the mountingfor individually bending the spaced arms outwardly. If desired, the pinin Fig. 7 may have a hooked end for pulling each arm individuallyagainst its associated inclined side wall of hole 11a instead.

With the second and third construction mentioned above, the members 17,17 need not be below the horizontal diameter of ring bore 10a since thespaced arms 15, 15 are firmly secured in the ring mounting hole 11a.However, it is more desirable to have them bfilow horizontal since thenthey will be obscured from view by the line of contact between the ringfinger and the adjacent fingers thereto, as shown in Fig. 5.

It should now be apparent that the ring stabilizer 14, the subject ofthe present invention, prevents the ring 10 from twisting, turning orslipping on the ring finger. It is an inconspicuous appurtenance to thering 10 not readily seen from above or below the hand when the fingersare in their normal position.

Various changes in details and arrangement of parts can be made by oneskilled in the art without departing from the spirit of this inventionor the scope of the appended claims.

What I claim is:

l. in combination, a ring and ring stabilizer, said ring having a boretherethrough adapted to telescope over a ring finger for mountingthereon, said ring having an out wardly extending hole in the surface ofthe bore so as to be located above the middle of the top surface of thering finger, said hole enlarging in the outwardly extending direction;said ring stabilizer fitting in the bore of said ring and includingoutwardly projecting means located intermediate the ends of saidstabilizer and inserted into said hole from said bore to preventrotation of said stabilizer around said bore, a pair of generallydiverging resilient legs connected together "at one end and to one endof said projecting means, said legs extending away from said means inopposite directions approximately forming chords across said bore inunstressed condition, said legs resiliently engageable with the uppersurface of the ring finger for preventing slipping and twisting thereon,and guide means at the distal end of each leg in said ring borestraddling the ring and urging said projecting means into said hole,both said guide means slidably engaging the ring bore and in unstressedcondition located slightly below a horizontal diameter of said bore whensaid hole is centered above said ring finger so that the resiliency ofsaid legs urges said projecting means upwardly into said bore with saidguide means being located in position to be hidden by the normal line ofcontact between the ring finger and adjacent fingers thereto.

2. In combination, a ring and ring stabilizer, said ring having a boretherethrough adapted to telescope over a ring finger for mountingthereon, said ring having a setting with an outwardly extending throughhole in the surface of the bore directly below said gem setting so as tobe located above the middle of the top surface of the ring finger, saidhole enlarging in the outwardly extending direction; said ringstabilizer fitting in the bore of said ring and including outwardlyprojecting spaced apart arms located intermediate the ends of saidstabilizer and inserted into said hole from said bore to preventrotation of said stabilizer around said bore, said arms beingconstructed so as to be bendable away from each other in said hole todetachably lock together said ring and ring stabilizer, a pair ofgenerally diverging resilient legs formed by a continuous band connectedat its mid-point to one end of said projecting arms, said legs extendingaway from said arms in opposite directions approximately forming chordsacross said bore in unstressed condition, said projection arms having awidth less than said leg forming band at the connection therewith, eachleg being of narrower width at each portion along its length thancorresponding portions of said bore so as to be hidden in. said ringbore, said legs resiliently engageable with the upper surface of thering finger for preventing slipping and twisting thereon, and outwardlyopening U-shaped guide means at the distal end of each leg in said ringbore straddling the ring and urging said projecting means arms into saidhole, both said U-shaped guide means slidably engaging in the ring boreand in unstressed condition located slightly below a horizontal diameterof said bore when said setting hole is centered above said ring fingerso that the resiliency of said legs urges said projecting arms upwardlyinto said bore with said guide means being 6 located in position to behidden by the normal line of 1,115,764 Applas Nov. 3, 1914 contactbetween the ring finger and adjacent fingers 1,278,047 Smith Sept. 3,1918 thereto. 2,142,167 Zalkind Jan. 3, 1939 2,184,942 McDonald Dec. 26,1939 References Cited in the file of this patent 5 FOREIGN PATENTSUNITED STATES PATENTS 553,631 France Feb. 14, 1923 567,469 Griscom Sept.8, 1896 637,263 France Apr. 26, 1928

